The first big final (for the Sharks) kicks off at 14h30 today, at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg.
Sean Everitt and his young team have made steady progress throughout the season and overcome many obstacles in order to play in the final ahead of sides with better credentials on paper. They face a settled, experienced and ultimately formidable Blue Bulls under 21 side that has already beaten them twice in the league stages, although never quite as convincingly as one would expect.
A number of players will be playing their last game for the Sharks at this level today, with Gouws Prinsloo, Sbura Sithole, Cobus Reinach, Tera Mthembu, Bry Stander, Peet Marais, Monde Hadebe, Shaun Malton and Jabs Mkhize all ineligible for under 21 rugby in 2012. The fact that more than half of the 22 will still be under 21 next year, though, emphasises just how young this side is, with lock forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, who only turned 19 in August this year and Fred Zeilinga, who is still 18, typifying the youthful exuberance in the squad.
The Sharks last won the under 21 trophy many, many years ago (can’t actually find the exact year at the moment!) and this bunch of juniors will know that they have a very special opportunity in front of them to overturn the odds and set the perfect tone for the Currie Cup Final to follow.
Blue Bulls under 21
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sampie Mastriet, 13 Ulrich Beyers, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Lohan Jacobs, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Jono Ross (Capt), 6 Arno Botha, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Gerno Eksteen, 3 Gerhard Engelbrecht, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Jacques Momberg, 17 Basil Short, 18 JJ Breet, 19 Dalton Davis, 20 Xander Redelinghuys, 21 Willie du Plessis, 22 Adri Jacobs.
The Sharks Under 21s
15.Gouws Prinsloo, 14.Jaco van Tonder,13.Piet Lindeque, 12.Heimar Williams, 11.Sbura Sithole, 10.Paul Jordaan, 9.Cobus Reinach, 8.Lubabalo Mtembu, 7.Brynard Stander, 6.Siseko Jafta, 5.Peet Marais, 4.Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3.Nick Schonert, 2.Monde Hadebe (Capt), 1.Danie Mienie
Replacements: 16.Shaun Malton, 17.Njabulo Mkize. 18.Mike Williams, 19.Chris Cloete, 20.Francois Kleinhans, 21.Fred Zeilinga, 22. Jared Meyer
Tweet
lions score first through a penalty
LionsU19 3 – 0 BullsU19
4min
fb of the lions going for post again, 50meters out
the kick is wide but long, could easy kick from another 10meters back…
lions doing all the play sofar
3 penalty in a row gives the bulls their first scoring opportunity
Pk over
LionsU19 3 – 3 BullsU19
13min
there’s a black cat running around on the stadium, a cat dressed in the right colour 😀
drop goal attempt missed by Jantjies
there’s quite a few bull supporters here.
Jantjies miss with Pk
score still 3all 6 min to go in first half
bulls going for line out, after getting a kickable Pk, and loosing the ball
Jantjies Pk from 42meters out, over
LionsU19 3 – 6 BullsU19
34min
half time
bulls start the 2nd half with a bang, scoring a try.
converted
LionsU19 3 – 13 BullsU19
5min 2nd half
lions responding well, get tackled out in the corner
lions held up over the line, 5meter scrum
lions score. in the corner,
conversion missed
LionsU19 8 – 13 BullsU19
16min 2nd half
Pk Jantjies,
LionsU19 8 – 16 BullsU19
20min 2nd half
TMO asked for lions try, and taking forever, try awarded
conversion over
LionsU19 15 – 16 BullsU19
10min to play
Pk bulls
LionsU19 15 – 19 BullsU19
8min to play
lions(14) score in the corner
conversion missed
LionsU19 20 – 19 BullsU19
5min to play
FULL TIME
LIONSU19 20 – 19 BullsU 19
Oh how nice it would be if the bulls get no trophy’s this season
Great going Lions u/19 you made us proud.
@Franshark (Comment 28) : Congrats Lions. 😎
Curious: When last did one of the Lions’ junior teams win a trophy?
game on,
first penalty to the bulls, halfway line, Fouche going for post
missed
bulls with a run down the midfield, knockon sharks 22
try scored by bulls
Fouche conversion over
SHARKSU21 0 – 7 BullsU21
8 min
sharks loose the ball 5 meters from the line
PK Prinsloo
SHARKSU21 3 – 7 BullsU21
12 min
bulls try in the corner
Fouche conversion over
SHARKSU21 3 – 14 BullsU21
13 min
penalty to the sharks, prinsloo going for goal, 55 meters
away to the right
try SHARKS
cobus Reinhach
Conversion over
SHARKSU21 10 – 14 BullsU21
20 min
bulls score against the run of play.
2nd time bulls rippes the ball from a sharks mall, and score from there
Fouche conversion missed
SHARKSU21 10 – 19 BullsU21
27min
penalty sharks
1st time watching the u21’s. But man the bulls look so much bigger than us. Like they in different age group. We dont have any big guys coming through?
PK Prinsloo missed
SHARKSU21 10 – 19 BullsU21
31min
I’m gonna look for food now, be back 2nd half
Come on Sharkies! You can do this!
Well done Lions u/19.
half time score is 22-10 to the Blue Bulls
The body language is a bit too casual from the Sharks. Looks like they have adopted it from the senior side on their worst outings. 🙁
C’mon boytjies, a lot more intensity!
Come on Sharks U21’s!!!
we’ve missed 15 points (!!!) in kicks already
2nd half started,
Prinsloo going for PK, 54 meters out
Distance good but not direction
@Franshark (Comment 62) : ag fop… alweer?
Prinsloo going for PK, 50 meters out, over
PK Prinsloo
SHARKSU21 13 – 22 BullsU21
48min
9 points in it… that’s not insurmountable, if we score a try soon
Bulls try
Easy conversion
SHARKSU21 13 – 29 BullsU21
52min
@robdylan (Comment 66) : the wrong team scored 🙁
Man, hate to say it, but the Bulls U-21’s seem to be in a different league to their Sharks counterparts 🙁
ag and there they score again… afraid his trophy is going up the N1, not down the N3
@Franshark (Comment 69) : yup 🙁
Another Bulls try! Pathetic!
And again, the bulls score,
Bulls U21 36 – 13 Sharks U21
22 mins left!
Easy conversion, again
SHARKSU21 13 – 36 BullsU21
58min
@Ben (Comment 76) : cool ben, please continue with the scoring, signal going worse by the incoming phone carrier
How many of these u/21’s who are not eligible for the junior side next year will receive senior contracts for the Sharks? Except guys like Prinsloo, Sithole, and Reinach?
Sharks try to Kleinhans, conversion by Prinsloo….
Bulls lead 36-20
@Argex (Comment 79) : we don’t really know yet… Assuming Prinsloo, Reinach and Mtembu definitely will.
The other may get short-term contracts for Vodacom Cup only. That’s how they did it last year.
@robdylan (Comment 81) : I really hope they retain the bulk of these players for next year. We’ve got some promising youngsters!
There we go!!!
36-23 – another Prinlsoo penalty
We’ve come from nowhere to a position where we can win it with 7 minutes to go!
try reinach! 36-30
@Argex (Comment 85) : bloody brilliant!
@robdylan (Comment 87) : Just need to get to the other side of the field though.
Game over 🙁 Bulls try.
too little too late… Bulls score a 6th and it’s 43-30 to the bad guys
final score 46-30
How did pieter-steph du toit play yesterday?
he played quite good he made a few good runs and competed at every breakdown.He charged down the ball that ended in Reinach’s try and then got 12 stitches in his hand!
@sharktooth (Comment 93) : not bad for a guy who just turned 19. Pieter-Steph is a Sharks legend in the making. Blessed to have him